Saliva ejector chin clamp

ABSTRACT

An adjustable chin clamp having a self locking arrangement designed inherent to the clamp for use with a saliva ejector.

United States Patent [1 1' Rogers Jan. 29 19 741 SALIVA EJECTOR CH INCLAMP Prima ExaminerRobert Peshock 76It:WtL.R,7LAb, U 1 men or xi gf fOS r ales Att0rney,A gent, or F irm-Bruce & McCoy [22] Filed: Sept. 20,1972 [21] Appl. No.: 290,566

' [57] ABSTRACT [52] US. Cl. 32/33 [51] Int. Cl. A6lc 17/04 An v 7 mm#7? "we ustable chm clamp havmg a self locklng ar- [58] Fleld of Search"32/33 128/275 rangement designed inherent to the clamp for use with128/299 300 a saliva ejector.

[56] V References Cited I UNITED STATES PATENTS 3 Chin 1s; 4 DrawingFigures 7/1953 Scott 32/33 SALIVA EJECTOR CHIN CLAMP CROSS REFERENCE TORELATED APPLICATION The device of the present invention is related to applicants co-pending U. S. application Ser. No. 1 10,947 for TONGUECONTROLLER SALIVA EJECTOR filed Jan. 29, I971.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The presentinvention relates to saliva ejectors and more particularly to a chinclamp for a saliva ejector.

2. Description of the Prior Art The closest known prior art is the chinclamp disclosed in U. S. Pat. No. 2,603,870 to E. H. Nordin for SALIVAEJECTOR issued July 22, 1952. That device is made out of metal and istightened by a thumbscrew. The disadvantages of the prior art are theexpense of manufacture, the fact the device requires two hands to adjustit upv or down along the ejector tube, and the time required to effectthe adjustment. Two hands are required because one hand must hold thestem or tube portion of the saliva ejector to counteract the torquenecessary to loosen or tighten the screw.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is a chin clamp for adental appliance and it comprises an upper member with a generallyplanar surface at a first end thereof for engaging the underside of apatients chin. The upper member has an aperture at the opposite orsecond end thereof for mounting the upper member on a verticallydisposed portion of the dental'appliance.

A lower member-is hinged to the first end of the upper member anddisposed generally therebelow in vertical alignment.

The hinge is relatively stiff and resilient permitting only slightmovement of the lower member relative to the upper member by force. Themembers return to the original position when the force is removed.

The. lower member also has an aperture disposed therein at the secondend thereof proximate the hole in the first member whereby when thesecond endsof the upper and lower members are squeezed together, theapertures will align permitting the chim clamp to slide along theportion of the dental appliance the clamp is disposed on. The chin clampis locked in position on the applicance when the ends of said membersarereleased permitting the members to spread apart to unalign the holes andto grip the appliance.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION It is therefore an important object of thepresent invention to provide a chin clamp which is inexpensive tomanufacture and can be made of a, molded plastic material requiring nomachining.

It is another object of the present invention to pro vide a chin clampwhich can be moved up and down on a shaft simply by squeezing twoflanges together and which then stays firmly in place on the shaft whenthe flanges are released.

And it is a further object of thepresent invention to provide a chinclamp which can be moved on a shaft with one hand operation and quicklyloosened in case of an emergency where quick removal of a dentalinstrume'n i essential.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. I is a perspective view. of achin clamp of the present invention mounted on the tube of a salivaejector; v

FIG. 2 is a side elevation of the present invention; FIG. 3 is a topplan view of the present invention; and FIG. 4 is an end elevation takenalong the lines 44 of FIG. 3.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The present invention is a chinclamp 11 which can be used for any type of a dental appliance utilizingan elongated generally tubular member which is disposed in a verticalposition with respect to the patients head. The preferred embodiment,the chin clamp is utilized with a saliva ejector. It comprises agenerally V-shaped element which is made up of a molded resilientplastic material such as delrin which is an acetal resin.

The clamp has upper and lower members l3, 15 respectively, with theupper member joining the lower one at the first ends thereof at the apex17 of the V- shaped element. The lower member is disposed generallybelow and in vertical alignment with the upper member. The upper memberhas a relatively smooth and rounded surface 19 on the upper side at thefirst end thereof for engaging the underside of a patients chin.

The apex of the two members forms a relatively stiff resilient hinge byvirture of the'physical properties of the materials which are utilizedfor, the chin clamp. In actuality little flexing actually seems to occurright in the hinge, but seems to be distributed mainly over the lengthof the lower member.

The second or free end 21 of the upper member has a hole 23 disposedtherein proximate the free end thereof. The hole is slightly larger indiameter than the lower tube portion 25 of a saliva ejector 27 and isformed to support the upper member of the chin clamp in generallyperpendicular relation to the ejector tube.

The lower member 15 of the chin clamp is slightly thinner in crosssection than the upper member so that when the two members arecompressed together the lower bends relatively more than the upper one.The lower member also has an arched configuration 29 adjacent the apexof the members which projects outward from the upper member and isembodied for spreading the stress of the flexing motion of the chinclamp over a larger working area and to relieve the stress in the hingeor apex area.

The lower member has a hole 31 proximate the free or second end 33thereof slightly misaligned from the hole formed in the uppermember.=The hole is formed for engaging the lower tube portion 25 of thesaliva ejector and is slightly larger in diameter than the tube portion.The hole is positioned so that when the chin clamp is mounted on asaliva ejector tube, without pressure being imposed on the upper andlower members forcing them together, the resiliency of the hinge willspread the members to grip the tube as the holes of the members areurged out of alignment.

The holes are positioned in the upper and lower members so as to permita portion of each of the members to project beyond or rearward of theejector tube as flanges 35 which can be gripped by a user to squeeze themembers together. ii

It will be seen that the present invention accomplishes all the objectsthat are attributable thereto. It

can be moved up or down on a shaft such as a saliva ejector tube bysimply squeezing the flanges together. The clamp stays firmly in placewhen the flanges are released to allow the members to spread and gripthe ejector tube. The chin clamp holds a saliva ejector, or x-rayholders, or any other instrument that may be used in the mouth by meansof a clamp. There is no machining necessary to make the presentinvention; it can be made in a one step molding operation. The plasticmaterial is more economical to use than metal because no machining stepsare required for its manufacture.

The great advantage of the present invention is its ease of use and itsaves time since it does not require two hands in order to adjust thechin clamp up or down on the shaft as is necessary with the state of theprior art. Since it can be so quickly adjusted, it is of great help incase of emergency where quick removal of the dental instrument from thepatients mouth is essential.

While the invention has been described in its preferred form, it is notto be limited to the details as set forth except as may be necessitatedby the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A clamping member for use with a dental appliance comprising:

an upper member with a generally planar surface at a first end thereoffor engaging the underside of a patients chin, said upper member havingan aperture at the opposite or second end thereof for mounting saidupper member on a vertically disposed portion of the dental appliance,

a lower member hinged to the first end of said upper member and disposedgenerally therebelow in vertical alignment, said hinge being relativelystiff and resilient permitting only slight movement of said lower memberrelative to said upper member by force and returning said members to theoriginal position when said force is removed, said lower member havingan aperture disposed therein at the second end thereof proximate thehole in said first member and slightly misaligned with respect theretowhereby when the second ends of said upper and lower members aresqueezed together said apertures will align permitting said chin clampto slide along the portion of the dental appliance said clamp isdisposed on and locking said chin clamp in position on said appliancewhen the ends of said members are released permitting said members tospread apart to unalign the apertures and to grip the appliance.

2. The chin clamp of claim 1 wherein said device is comprised of aplastic material such as molded delrin, an acetal resin.

3. A chin clamp for a saliva ejector comprising a generally V-shapedelement made of a molded plastic material such as an acetal resin andhaving upper-and lower members, the upper of said members joining thelower thereof at the first ends thereof at the apex of said V-shapedelement, said apex forming a relatively stiff resilient hinge by virtueof the physical properties of the material utilized for the chin clamp,the upper member having a relatively smooth and rounded surface on theupper side of the first end thereof for engaging the underside of apatients chin, the second or free end of said upper member having a holedisposed therein proximate the free end thereof, said hole beingslightly larger in diameter than the lower tube portion of a salivaejector and formed to support the upper member of said chin clamp ingenerally perpendicular relation to said ejector tube, the lower memberof said chin clamp being slightly thinner in cross section than saidupper member, and having an arched configuration adjacent said apex andprojecting outward from said upper member for spreading the stress ofthe flexing motion over 'a larger working area, said lower member havinga hole proximate the free second end thereof slightly misaligned fromthe hole formed in said upper member and formed for engaging the lowertube portion of a "saliva ejector, said hole being slightly larger indiameter than said tube portion and positioned so that when said chinclamp is mounted on a saliva ejector without pressure on the upper andlower members forcing them together, the resiliency of the hinge willspread the members to grip the tube as the holes of the members areurged out of alignment, said holes being positioned in said members topermit a portion of said members to project beyond said ejector tube asflanges which can be gripped by a user to.

squeeze the members together.

1. A clamping member for use with a dental appliance comprising: anupper member with a generally planar surface at a first end thereof forengaging the underside of a patient''s chin, said upper member having anaperture at the opposite or second end thereof for mounting said uppermember on a vertically disposed portion of the dental appliance, a lowermember hinged to the first end of said upper member and disposedgenerally therebelow in vertical alignment, said hinge being relativelystiff and resilient permitting only slight movement of said lower memberrelative to said upper member by force and returning said members to theoriginal position when said force is removed, said lower member havingan aperture disposed therein at the second end thereof proximate thehole in said first member and slightly misaligned with respect theretowhereby when the second ends of said upper and lower members aresqueezed together said apertures will align permitting said chin clampto slide along the portion of the dental appliance said clamp isdisposed on and locking said chin clamp in position on said appliancewhen the ends of said members are released permitting said members tospread apart to unalign the apertures and to grip the appliance.
 2. Thechin clamp of claim 1 wherein said device is comprised of a plasticmaterial such as molded delrin, an acetal resin.
 3. A chin clamp for asaliva ejector comprising a generally V-shaped element made of a moldedplastic material such as an acetal resin and having upper and lowermembers, the upper of said members joining the lower thereof at thefirst ends thereof at the apex of said V-shaped element, said apexforming a relatively stiff resilient hinge by virtue of the physicalproperties of the material utilized for the chin clamp, the upper memberhaving a relatively smooth and rounded surface on the upper side of thefirst end thereof for engaging the underside of a patient''s chin, thesecond or free end of said upper member having a hole disposed thereinproximate the free end thereof, said hole being slightly larger indiameter than the lower tube portion of a saliva ejector and formed tosupport the upper member of said chin clamp in generally perpendicularrelation to said ejector tube, the lower member of said chin clamp beingslightly thinner in cross section than said upper member, and having anarched configuration adjacent said apex and projecting outward from saidupper member for spreading the stress of the flexing motion over alarger working area, said lower member having a hole proximate the freesecond end thereof slightly misaligned from the hole formed in saidupper member and formed for engaging the lower tube portion of a salivaejector, said hole being slightly larger in diameter than said tubeportion and positioned so that when said chin clamp is mounted on asaliva ejector without pressure on the upper and lower members forcingthem together, the resiliency of the hinge will spread the members togrip the tube as the holes of the members are urged out of alignment,said holes being positioned in said members to permit a portion of saidmembers to project beyond said ejector tube as flanges which can begripped by a user to squeeze the members together.